Nationals edge Braves, 3-2
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 31, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - Marlon Byrd had two RBI doubles, Tomo Ohka (4-3) allowed just one unearned run and two hits over seven innings, and Washington was helped by a reversed umpire's call that turned Brian Jordan's apparent game-tying homer in the seventh inning into a foul ball as the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2.
With the scored tied at 1 and one out, Jordan drove a 1-1 pitch into the left-field corner. Byrd drifted back for the ball and was in foul territory when he jumped for it. TV replays appeared to show the ball hit the black base of the foul pole, just beyond Byrd's glove and the wall.
Third-base umpire Jerry Layne ruled it a homer, but Washington manager Frank Robinson jogged to the outfield to argue the call, and crew chief Ed Montague eventually changed it.
Gary Majewski followed with a perfect eighth, and Chad Cordero earned his 12th save despite giving up Andruw Jones' 12th homer, a solo shot with two outs.
Kyle Davies (2-1) got his first loss.
Pirates 3, Marlins 2,
10 innings
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Freddy Sanchez's opposite-field single in the 10th inning drove in the winning run and the Pirates won a one-run game at home for the first time this season.
Pittsburgh was 0-7 at home and 3-11 overall in one-run games before Jack Wilson doubled with two outs against Todd Jones (0-1), Florida's sixth pitcher, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Sanchez's single to right.
Rick White (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory as the Pirates won for only the eighth time in 21 home games and beat Florida for the seventh straight time at PNC Park. The Marlins are 1-9 in Pittsburgh since the 2002 season.
Cubs 5, Dodgers 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Greg Maddux got his 308th victory and the Cubs moved above the .500 mark for the first time in a month by beating the Dodgers.
Jerry Hairston, Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez homered for the Cubs, who have won four straight and have a winning record for the first time since they were 12-11, after games of April 30.
Maddux (3-3) allowed two runs - one earned - and five hits in six innings to win for the first time in four starts since beating the New York Mets 7-0 on May 10 in Chicago. It was the third consecutive start without a walk for the four-time Cy Young Award winner.
Ryan Dempster, the fourth Chicago pitcher, finished the six-hitter for his fifth save in six chances, allowing a solo homer to Olmedo Saenz, who drove in all three Los Angeles runs.
All three Cubs homers came off Wilson Alvarez (1-3), who allowed five runs and nine hits over five innings in his second spot start in place of injured Odalis Perez.
Cardinals 5, Rockies 4
DENVER (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to add to the Colorado bullpen's misery.
Pujols put a 1-2 pitch from Jay Witasick (0-2) barely over the left-field wall for a 4-3 lead. The homer halted Witasick's 10-game streak without allowing an earned run and marked the major league-high 11th blown save of the season for Colorado's beleaguered relievers.
Abraham Nunez added an RBI double in the eighth for St. Louis, and after the Rockies cut the lead back to one, Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 15th save, and his 20th straight dating to last season.
Jason Marquis (6-3) threw his last pitch trailing 3-1 in the sixth, but got the win thanks to Pujols' 12th homer of the season.